


if you wanna dance, then dance with me

by k00lll



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, F/F, Fluff, Gay Panic, Light Angst, Lowkey makes no sense, Pining, School Dances, Some cute af moments idk, Sooyoung is real shameless in this, ongoing, slowish burn but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29130075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k00lll/pseuds/k00lll
Summary: Jiwoo asks Sooyoung to the dance. Unfortunately, the latter doesn’t quite get the memo and Jiwoo sure as hell isn’t going to spell it out.
Relationships: Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Kim Jiwoo | Chuu
Comments: 20
Kudos: 95





	1. mission failed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy :) pls give feedback too hehe

Maybe someone could have warned her about how bad of an idea this all was, but nothing could have truly prepared her for it.

“Of course I’ll go to the dance with you,” Sooyoung giggled, not a hint of hesitation in her voice, “I thought that was a given? I mean, unless you wanted to third-wheel Jinsoul and Jungeun.”

Okay. Well, she did say yes.

Not the type of answer she was looking for though. There was thrill and enthusiasm, but it was all so... friendly.

Well shit. She was friend-zoned.

“Oh,” Jiwoo, who was standing in her lucky penguin socks paired with her infamous pink sneakers looking up at her... buddy, was taken aback. She had spent the past two weeks working up the courage to even bring up the dance to Sooyoung, who was—at this point—already turning down a handful of hopeful freshman every few days. Jiwoo didn’t exactly know what she wanted Sooyoung to say, but a less platonic response would’ve been nice.

“No yeah. Yeah. Like I was just making sure... because you know, so many people were asking you to the dance and I didn’t know if maybe like- like I don’t know, you said yes to any of them? Which would’ve been fine by the way! You can go to the dance with whoever you want. You’re your own person, but I just—“

She was rambling again.

“Jiwoo— calm down,” Sooyoung let out a borderline awkward laugh, “I wouldn’t wanna go to the dance with anyone else anyway. Just you.”

Jiwoo felt like Olaf experiencing his first summer because she was _melting_ —metaphorically (and perhaps physically) a puddle on the floor. Her heart could quite possibly burst open, but Jiwoo was perhaps a little too okay with that.

  
  
  


* * *

She doesn’t know when these feelings—the churning in her stomach, her lack of focus on anything else, the ache in her heart—first started.

Maybe it was when they had their first full conversation with each other, which was the result of Sooyoung practically blowing steam from her ears after retrying a math problem for the 5th time. The two were by no means strangers at the time, but this was perhaps the first time Jiwoo really looked at Sooyoung. And honestly, she was cute when she was frustrated, but it was also rather embarrassing since their class was reviewing basic algebra.

She almost regrets how she marched over to Sooyoung’s empty table and sat down with so much conviction and confidence that it made Sooyoung stop her ‘Grumpy Sooyoung Noises’ (as she liked to call it now) to raise an eyebrow.

“Hmm.. you look like you need help,” she had a cheekiness to her step.

The latter was frozen in her seat, startled by the other girl’s forwardness. Once her brain processed the situation, her confidence kicked in, “Yeah, I do. I can’t seem to find your number on my phone?”

Her cheerful, warm smile faded, replaced by genuine, utter confusion, “Huh? You don’t have my number, that’s why.”

For a straight A student who spent all their time studying day and night, Jiwoo sure was slow.

Sooyoung scoffed, perhaps making Jiwoo a little insecure, “I know, that’s why you should _give_ me your number.”

“And why would I do that?” Jiwoo blurted out, cringing afterwards at how hostile it came off.

Sooyoung released a sigh and looked down in disappointment. _The cute ones always gotta be straight._

Turns out that Jiwoo was, in fact, very gay—just a bit clueless sometimes.

(all the time)

  


* * *

Despite Sooyoung’s cold exterior, she was sweet—she really was. A little intense sometimes, but still a little soft ball of affection, especially when it came to Jiwoo.

Maybe that was what made it so excruciatingly confusing for her. Sooyoung was so uncharacteristically loving and adorable to Jiwoo, yet it all felt so... friendly. Of course Sooyoung would never miss the opportunity to tease a blushing-mess-of-a-Jiwoo, but that’s just the way she always was—flirty.

But it really was an accumulation of how Sooyoung treated her—staring at her lips whenever she talked, swinging a limp arm around her shoulder when they walked to their shared biology class, holding her hand when she knew Jiwoo was anxious about something—the affection was all so overwhelming because she couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.

Especially on days like this one where the younger’s explosive giddiness and cheer was practically run over several times by a huge green monster truck that read the words ‘Reality’, because witnessing the love of your life pining after another girl felt like a thousand needles to the heart.

“Could I get your number, Siyeon?” the older asked with her signature smile that never failed to get everyone swooning.

The girl in question was startled by the sudden inquiry, which really wasn’t surprising considering Sooyoung had randomly decided to take a detour from their normal route to the cafeteria to stop mid-hallway, dead in front of Siyeon’s locker,

“Oh? I mean, yeah I guess. For what?” asking a bit skeptically.

“Just cause.” Sooyoung answered without hesitation, smile only getting wider the longer they stood there.

Meanwhile, Jiwoo’s stomach was churning and her heart beating out of control, but not in the whimsical way it usually did around the older. The girl looked between Sooyoung and Siyeon like an abandoned child. Of course she liked Siyeon. She was undeniably hot in every angle and had the prettiest, most infectious laugh. If it weren’t for Sooyoung, she’d probably fall in love with her too. She never did stand a chance.

Why would Sooyoung ever like a girl like herself? She was loser compared to her—a loser that wore penguin socks and still slept with a stuffed animal, who spent all her time color coding her math notes and had little to no experience with girls. But the two girls beside her were hot and sexy and cool and everything about them made everyone swoon.

Deciding that it was best for her heart to not see or listen to the rest of the conversation, Jiwoo reluctantly let go of Sooyoung’s warm hand, locking her eyes to the floor and walked away as hastily as she could.   
  
  


* * *

  
  


‘Plan ignore, evade, and avoid Sooyoung until she got over her’ was officially a go.

But unfortunately, the universe wasn’t cooperating.

“Hey, cutie,” Sooyoung sat down next to Jiwoo the next day, leaning in and tucked her hair behind her ear for her.

Well shit. It was just a day in and the younger already felt like she was at a loss. She shifted uncomfortably away from girl’s touch, which was noticeably uncharacteristic of her, considering she always seemed to lean in warmly in the presence of Sooyoung.

“Hey,” she spoke quietly, eyes still committed to the biology worksheet on their shared desk. The girl next to her stared at the side of her face, waiting a few seconds for Jiwoo to start endlessly rambling about her day—about how much homework she had last night or the tteokbokki her grandma made her for lunch or the new bath bomb she accidentally dropped in her pool or how her lucky penguin socks were still in the dryer.

But to her surprise, nothing followed. That’s weird. Maybe she was upset about something.

“Jiwoomingggg,” this time Sooyoung was completely facing her, gently taking her hands away from her lap and into her’s, “you’re a bit quiet today. Is something bothering you?” she spoke so, so endearingly.

Is something bothering her? Fuck, yes. And it’s you. In any other situation Jiwoo would be screaming her head off and punching the air right then, but they were in class and that would’ve been humiliating, to say the least. Sooyoung had absolutely no business being this sweet to her. She was _so_ reassuring and thoughtful it physically hurt her.

“Uh...” she squeaked, “yeah, I’m fine. Just, y’know, tired.”

“Uh huh?” Sooyoung sat there patiently waiting again, ears perked for Jiwoo’s explanation but again—silence.

So when Sooyoung realized the other girl wasn’t going to say anything she suddenly felt very out of place and uncomfortable. The ball of sunshine next to her never let her energy slip around her. Being foreign to this type of situation, Sooyoung could only do what she knew best: flirt.

“You’re so cute, Jiwoo,” she blurted out.

What the fuck? Jiwoo might as well throw herself out the window for that one.

“I- uhh,” Jiwoo had no words. Speechless.

“Sorry,” Sooyoung gave an airy chuckle, pink clouds dusting her cheeks, “that sort of just sli-“

An unnaturally loud cough from the front of the classroom interrupted her mid-sentence and broke the two from whatever secluded trance they were in.

“Ms. Ha, do you have something to say to the class? You sure seem chatty today,” their science teacher raised an eyebrow.

Out of all the days to get called out for talking, it had to be the day Jiwoo was quiet.

“Actually, yeah. I do,” Jiwoo looked up at the older girl with curiosity in her expression. Not to mention, the teacher—who was use to students shutting up after the notorious ‘do you have something to say to the class’—was thoroughly interested.

“Well?” looking at Sooyoung expectantly.

“Jiwoo’s the cutest person ever,” she said with a bright smile on her face, “She seemed sad today so I wanted to tell her she was cute.”

Okay, what the fuck? If it hadn’t been for those three Shopee vitamin D packets Jiwoo stuffed down her throat that morning, she was convinced she would’ve easily passed out.

The teacher blinked, “Well, Romeo... try to keep that business after class, but I’ll let it slide this time,” she said much less harshly, probably impressed by Sooyoung’s utter confidence.

Meanwhile, Jiwoo was near seizing, perhaps transcending to an alternate universe where time wasn’t real and Sooyoung wasn’t so pretty. 

‘Plan ignore, evade, and avoid Sooyoung until she got over her’: failed.

Time: 21 hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> U caught me... this is my first fic 😧 yea I’ll try to update if anyone gives a shit 😭


	2. friday’s afternoon gloom

They say gloomy weather always managed to dampen the mood, but today it did anything but.

It was a few weeks before the day of the dance when Jiwoo caught a glimpse of a dreamy Sooyoung staring out the vast windows of the cafe they were situated in. Droplets of slanted rain caught itself on the glass, hasty in its pursuit but everso melodious. The eatery itself had an mystifying ambience to it but the tempo was just right for the pair. _It was cozy._

“Sooyoungie,” she called, breaking the pleasant silence in favor of sparking a conversation with her favorite person.

“Mmh?” Sooyoung’s eyes still loosely trained on the concrete landscape beyond the cafe.

“What’s something you’ve always wanted to do?” her smile was unfairly bright if Sooyoung cared to look.

“Hmmm...”

.....

“... your mom?”

The smaller girl’s smiled dropped, replaced with a scowl that was _supposed_ to be fierce and scary but was more adorable than anything, “I will literally sock you...” she grumbled.

The other girl did nothing but let out an endearing fit of laughter, boldly leaning forward and gently pressing two slender fingers between the steaming girl’s brows. Jiwoo let out a panicked gasp followed by a conceding sigh of defeat as Sooyoung lightly massaged the depressed area.

“Sorry... my 13-year-old alter ego popped out there,” this time releasing a lighter giggle.

“Just answer the question...” Jiwoo’s drive resurfaced, “please don’t play with me right now,” she played on more quietly.

But Sooyoung would never miss a Nicki Minaj reference, “See! I’m not the only one with a 13-year-old alter ego.”

As much as Jiwoo wanted to have an educated, mature conversation with the other girl, it seemed that the both of them were a bit stuck in their middle school phase mentally, “Okay, okay, but I’m serious. What does a girl have to do to have a pleasant conversation with her y’know...” she paused before internally grimacing, “ _friend..._ ”

Amused was an understatement. Sooyoung had an incredulous expression that bordered laughing—something close to a smirk but with more mirth.

“Well, I feel like I’ve always wanted to-“ she cut herself off, “Okay wait this might sound ridiculous but... I’ve always wanted to kiss someone in the rain,” her eyes charmingly met Jiwoo’s.

“Doesn’t it sound... nice..?”

It’s safe to say the other girl’s mind was short circuiting, racking her brain for the possible implications of Sooyoung’s response.

Fuck. Is this flirting? Is she flirting? Kiss who? Kiss me? Kiss anyone? Part of Jiwoo believed that Sooyoung was giving a genuine response, one that was purely innocent in nature, merely expressing a crave she’s always had. But another part of her brain set off beeming red alarms, screaming at her that ‘ _THIS IS FLIRTING. SOOYOUNG WANTS TO KISS YOU. STOP STARING AT HER LIKE AN IDIOT AND SAY SOMETHING_.’

Before the logical, less obsessed and over complicated part of her brain could stop her, Jiwoo suddenly blurted, “And what’re you implying with that?”

“I’m just saying that I- “ the older girl’s words were cut off by a sudden buzz from her phone followed by a glowing screen with a fresh notification in the lock screen.

With their are-we-about-to-kiss-right-now moment interrupted, the palpable tension seemed to dissipate as fast as it arrived. The buzzes didn’t cease for a while, Sooyoung’s phone obnoxiously chiming another five or so times.

Jiwoo really didn’t mean to look off to the side where Sooyoung’s phone resided, glancing at the bright screen found laying up and just _begging_ to be read. She didn’t mean to see a new notification from Sooyoung’s iMessage. She definitely didn’t mean to see Siyeon blowing up her phone, catching a glimpse of an upside down “thanks, see u soon baby ;)”.

“You should probably get that,” Jiwoo looked at her plate, feigning disinterest and fiddling with her fingers on her lap.

Sooyoung hastily flipped her phone over, “It’s uh... nothing important.”

It buzzed another three times, “Sounds like something important,” this time with crystal clear lethargy in her voice.

The thing is, Jiwoo knew Sooyoung was free to ask for anyone’s number. She was free to text whoever she pleased, to do anything with anyone she could get. And even though she _could_ do these things, it never truly processed in Jiwoo’s mind that Sooyoung _was_ , in fact, talking with multiple girls at once. And although she really had no right to be jealous, who could blame Jiwoo for the burning pain in her gut when Sooyoung’s dreamy facade—a next-door kind of girl who was supposed to swoop Jiwoo off her feet—was shattered.

“No, it’s really nothing important, Jiwoo,” Sooyoung said gently, turning off her ringer and leaning forward again. This time tucking a free strand of hair behind Jiwoo’s ear.

Sooyoung always knew how to deal with her, how to get though her skin, read her like a book, mold her emotions in any way she pleased. And right now, in the way Jiwoo sank into the warmth of the older girl’s hand, it really showed. Truthfully, it was exhausting being wrapped around someone’s finger. It always felt like a non-existent push and pull with Sooyoung—never really knowing if she meant any of the gestures she did for her. Always bringing her back to a question she had wondered for months: did Sooyoung think about her as much as she did? But alas, it always came down to what Sooyoung had to say.

“Just- let’s get out of here,” suddenly having something else in mind, “and I’ll treat you to something special, kay?”

Before given the opportunity to protest because—truth be told, Jiwoo was _not_ ready to leave her chocolate strawberry pancakes here, destined for the garbage—Sooyoung already had her hand up, signaling for a worker to bring them the check. It seemed, however, that the universe yet again had other plans for their departure, as a tempting waitress made her way to their table in the corner of the cafe.

With an inviting smile, the girl had her hands politely resting behind her back, only removing one hand from the position to _attractively_ run her hands through her short, silky locks. Her doe eyes look at them both loosely, before landing on Jiwoo with slightly more intensity (despite how Sooyoung was the one with her hand up).

Damn. What a way to walk to a god damn table.

“Hey girls,” something in the way she subtly slurred her words was alluring, “haven’t seen you two in a while.”

“Ryujin? I like- completely forgot you worked here. Hi!” Jiwoo was more than ecstatic to see her old friend, whom she was close with in elementary school but eventually grew apart from as they took different classes and met new people, leaving them both with a fresh pallete of people. It was always delightful to see a familiar face, however.

“I mean.. wow. You look like... super good. How are you?” she wore a bright smile on her face, genuinely interested in how her old friend was shaping up.

“Just y’know school, track, work, repeat,” showing her first sign of insecurity, despite her being disgustingly good at everything. Not only did she work a part time job to valiently pay for her mother’s hospital bills, but she was an unfairly smart girl with a studious attitude, far from overwhelming though. Not to mention, a top sprinter on their school’s track team, notoriously known for ripping through their team’s record by sophomore year and running the 200 meter the second fastest the school has ever seen.

“Uh well.. the school newspaper last week said way more than that,” Jiwoo giggled.

“Ah, you know journalism.. they just exaggerate everything,” wow, _and_ she’s humble, “Anyways, what about you? What’re you two doing this _fine Friday evening_.”

“Oh, us? We’re... uh.. having a.. like a.. hangout, in which we’re together hanging... out together.. alone.”

“Oh,” Ryujin let out a laugh, clearly adoring Jiwoo’s stuttering state, “Well- are you maybe free later tonight?”

Sooyoung, who was silently watching the whole thing (silently throwing rotten tomatoes at Ryujin in her mind), suddenly blurted out, “She’s actually not free tonight... because she’s currently on a _date_. And this _date_ might take all night so she needs to leave soon so she can finish her _date_. And her _date_ sort of needs the check right about now... you wouldn’t want to delay this _date_ , right?” Sooyoung’s eyes drilled holes into the hopeful girl’s face.

“Oh, this is a date? I didn’t realize. Uh... fuck. My bad, I’ll get the check,” and with an awkward laugh the girl was off to the front counter to retrieve their golden ticket out.

Meanwhile, Jiwoo was frozen in her seat, eyes staring off into the molecular content of her plate. Legend has it, if you looked close enough, you might see her body twitching and each of her atoms breaking the Law of Conservation of Mass as if she was disappearing on the spot.

While Jiwoo was ‘meanwhiling’ in her seat, Sooyoung had shifted her eyes from the waitress to the smaller girl, and—at this point—fully aware that what she just did was completely out of pocket and uncalled for. But not a single particle in her body regretted it.

Yet again, Jiwoo was at a loss for words. It was one thing to get jealous of her friends—for platonic, friend-esque reasons—but blatantly shutting Ryujin down? This was a completely different ballgame. And to be honest, Jiwoo didn’t know how she would’ve responded, but she sure as hell didn’t expect _Sooyoung_ to have anything to say about it. It seemed like she really wanted to drill it into Ryujin’s head that they were on a “date”. Like what the hell was that about? One moment Sooyoung has girls blowing up her phone and in another she’s acting like some overprotective partner.

It was from this train-of-thought that Jiwoo deduced that it was simply Sooyoung... being Sooyoung. She always knew that—with the older girl—having no hope is just a measure she had to take to keeping her heart intact (at least as intact it could be around the prettiest girl she’s ever seen). Perhaps Sooyoung thought she was doing Jiwoo a favor—that she was covering for her and that's why she labelled this as a "date". It wasn't because Sooyoung was being protective. It was because she was being a good friend and good friends will make stuff up to get a friend out of an awkward situation. Good friends is what they were, Jiwoo thought.

It was almost laughable how a different waitress arrived at their table with the check. After Sooyoung overbearingly insisted on paying, Jiwoo took it upon herself to pack up the rest of the chocolate strawberry pancakes she clearly wasn't finished with, courtesy of the cute little to-go box that arrived with the check.

Upon tying a bow atop the bag, Sooyoung abruptly got up, seemingly done paying. The sound of the wooden chair Sooyoung sat beneath making unpleasant scratching noises with the floor as she pushed it back to firmly stand up. Before Jiwoo knew it, she was being tugged out the restaurant and into the moist air of the outdoors.

She peered at the taller girl curiously and saw she was trying to maneuver the umbrella open with one had whilst holding Jiwoo’s in the other. Her movement were uncalculated, rushing for God knows what. What followed, however, left Jiwoo thinking that the atoms of her body _really did_ transcend to a different dimension.

....

Never would Jiwoo expect to be making out with her crush in the backseat of her car, bag of strawberry pancakes long forgotten.

Sooyoung’s lips seemed to connect to Jiwoo’s by some magnetic force, an unspoken and unseen law of the universe. Jiwoo knew something was off as soon as the other girl opened the passenger seat’s door, as if the opening to the driver’s seat had disappeared, never to exist in the first place. To be fair, the last thing Jiwoo expected was to be dragged in by the hips like some plaything, finding a front row seat on none other than Ha Sooyoung’s lap. The older girl hastily slammed the door like rent was due, like she didn’t want anyoneto see what she was going to do with the smaller girl.

And now? Jiwoo’s lips were on Sooyoung’s. Sooyoung had her lips on hers. She was kissing Sooyoung. Sooyoung was kissing her. They were kissing. She was kissing back. Did she mention that they were kissing? They were kissing in the backseat of Sooyoung’s Honda CR-V LX SUV. For fucks sake, they were kissing. 

_Kissing. Kissing. Kissing._

Jiwoo once heard that if you say a word enough it takes the power out it—desensitizes it, if you will. But it seemed that the more Jiwoo thought about kissing the more her brain would automatically avert to Sooyoung. In short, all she could think about was kissing and Sooyoung, and it seemed that no matter how much she thought about the two interconnected subjects, it simply never “took the power out of them.” They simply became all the more consuming.

And it was so consuming that it almost... _almost_ made Jiwoo not notice Sooyoung’s phone slip out of her pocket. She almost didn’t notice it flash on, almost missed the fact that there were an onslaught of messages from what seemed to be several, several girls.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... how was it 0-0


End file.
